Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has transformed its consumer lending operations, enabling over £7 billion in annual loans, through the deployment of the FICO Platform in a major overhaul of its digital infrastructure.
The move forms part of a broader strategic push to modernise the bank’s systems and deliver more efficient, agile services to its customers. By embracing real-time data ingestion and advanced analytics, the new platform has already driven a 2.5% uplift in credit card approvals and doubled the number of new-to-bank consumer loan customers. It has also resolved more than 50 system limitations that had previously slowed progress.
Ian Rockliffe, head of consumer credit risk transformation at Lloyds, described the previous infrastructure as a growing impediment. “It became clear that our lending infrastructure was becoming a barrier to the strategic growth ambitions of the bank,” he said.
“We needed the ability to scale to meet our customers’ needs within the digital channels. We also needed to bring in new data assets to support growth, sustainability and enhance our responsible lending position.”
The fragmented and ageing legacy systems were particularly ill-suited to integrating new data sources or adapting to the expectations of digital-first customers. By working with FICO, Lloyds was able to consolidate and simplify its technology stack, reducing complexity and accelerating innovation cycles.
Among the notable firsts introduced by Lloyds since migrating to the FICO Platform is a cloud-based application viewer that offers improved access for underwriters and support teams. A significant upgrade to bureau data, once a process that took months, was delivered in a matter of weeks. Rockliffe noted that the group is already seeing measurable benefits in lending outcomes and expects the improvements to extend to credit cards in due course.
The re-architecture of the lending environment has also allowed Lloyds to bring credit card eligibility assessments in-house and standardise decisioning across its loan portfolios. This shared logic approach helps ensure a more consistent experience for customers, while supporting the rapid deployment of changes.
Nikhil Behl, president of software at FICO, praised the transformation for its operational agility. “Not only has the new integration helped LBG to fundamentally change its technology, the Group has also adopted a truly agile approach when delivering technical and business change. Upgrades no longer take months or years, but can be completed within minutes and days, providing significant operational efficiencies.”
The modernisation effort included a major data mapping exercise to manage changes flowing across more than 20 on-premise applications. Rockliffe said that while this process was complex, the implementation was ultimately “efficient and seamless”.
“For loans, we are already seeing great results due to the bureau data upgrade,” he added. “Our new lending infrastructure, with FICO Platform at its core, has allowed us to scale and adapt to deliver another key strategic delivery for the group… Importantly, we are also seeing robust performance of the new architecture, ensuring we are there to meet the lending needs of our customers 24/7.”
The transformation has not gone unnoticed. Lloyds was awarded a 2025 FICO Decision Award for Cloud Deployment. Megha Kumar, research vice president at IDC and one of the awards judges, said: “Lloyds’ achievement goes far beyond a typical system upgrade — it’s a transformation that redefines what’s possible with cloud technology in banking.”
